November Book/TED talk: Brene Brown & Daring Greatly

This month, we want to share with you the work of Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work who has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Dawn first stumbled upon Brown’s TED talks last year and immediately ordered and read her book Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012). Last month, Dawn also had the opportunity to see Brown speak at the Emerging Women Live Conference in Boulder, Colorado. Brown’s engaging storytelling captivates audiences as she authentically shares her research and her own struggle with vulnerability. If you watch the TED videos, be ready to laugh, but at the same time be ready to get hit in the gut as she holds up a mirror to aspects of ourselves we normally try to shield.

Flow Circus Skill Toy Museum: 19th Century Diabolo

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest featured item from the Flow Circus Skill Toy Museum* is a 19th Century diabolo. Many of you have played with a yo-yo. Now imagine a bigger yo-yo that can actually come off the string. Players move two hand sticks connected by a string in order to get the toy to spin. Once spinning, it can fly off the string, jump over body parts, and do other tricks. Some players even juggle two or three on one string.

From the Flow Circus Skill Toy Museum: Flores Yo-Yo

Starting this month, we are going to bring you a featured item from the Flow Circus Skill Toy Museum. The museum doesn't physically exist yet, but we have been collecting vintage skill toys over the last few years and wanted to start sharing them. The first item captures the story of a toy and an entrepreneur. The yo-yo has a long rich history dating back as far as 500 BC. Vases from Ancient Greece depict children playing with the toy and a few terra cotta yo-yos from that time still exist. The yo-yo was played on several continents throughout its history, but this story of this yo-yo starts in the Philippines.

Flow Circus Kids - Skill Toys from Around the World

FlowCircusKids.com - A New, Free Resource: As the summer quickly approaches, we wanted to share with you a new website that illustrates the captivating stories that skill toys tell about culture, trade, natural resources, and human nature. People have been playing with skill toys for thousands of years and as different as one culture may be from another, we are all connected by the desire to play.

 

2011 Library Giveaway - Flow Circus Skill Toy Kit

Flow Circus wanted to help support librarians as they prepare for the 2011 Summer Reading Program's themes of One World, Many Stories and You Are Here. We realized what better way for tweens and teens to understand other cultures and time periods than through the universal language of play!

We are excited to announce our 2011 Library Giveaway. One lucky library will win a Flow Circus Skill Toy Kit which includes 5 different skill toys from around the world. The kit includes a total of 20 skill toys, instructional materials, and a program guide to help you start and maintain a skill toy club at your library.

To learn more about the Skill Toy Kit and to enter your library for a chance to win, visit www.FlowCircus.com/Giveaway

Deadline for entry is March 31st. A winner will be randomly drawn and announced April Fool's Day.

Getting Creative with Fundama

This past spring, Flow Circus created Fundama. Cheap and easy DIY skill toys that can be created using basic supplies like paper cups, masking tape, and string. The Play Fundama site includes instructional videos and activity ideas for teachers, librarians, and summer camp staff to engage children, tweens, and teens in creative play. We were thrilled in October when we received the following email from Mary Alice Hudson at Cape Fear Elementary in Rocky Point, NC:

I have been doing a Fundama Club with 25 5th graders at my school.  We meet once a week for 50 minutes and we have the best time!  They absolutely LOVE making and playing with the toys.  I am so glad I found your fantastic program and website!  So far we've made the basic, freestyle, six and twist.  They are really excited about the ladder and plan to make Paul's party before making their own parties.  Our final goal is to go on our school's morning show and show off our toys and talent.   Thank you so much for this great resource. We're having a wonderful time!

Skill Toys Add Play to Community Festivals

This fall, Flow Circus had the opportunity to set up Skill Toy Play Stations at several community events to engage families in play. Kids of all ages challenged themselves with new toys or rediscovered toys from their youth.

Playful Staff Development

Flow Circus finds that working with adults can be just as much fun as working with kids because adults need to laugh & play too! This month we conducted two different staff development sessions. The first was held at Camp Silver Beach for the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA. Our half-day workshop was part of a two day retreat focusing on the book Juggling Elephants by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig. As the authors point out in the book: People sometimes need to laugh, relax, and not take themselves too seriously. Our session taught participants how to juggle and use a variety of skill toys. Learning these new skills gave the group an opportunity to reflect on the learning process and how to overcome a fear of failure in order to improve their very own own 3 ring circus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

This past week we conducted a workshop for the staff of Mauney Memorial Library and Cleveland County Library System (pictured above). For this workshop, we used balloons to set up different team challenges that emphasize the importance of good communication, clear objectives, and understanding strengths/weaknesses when working together in teams. Creative thinking and team brainstorming resulted in the commercials below which promote the wide variety of services that libraries provide in the 21st Century. Watch and enjoy their results.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp0eIEK7Nhc[/youtube]

 Visit our website to learn more information about Flow Circus Staff Development Workshops.

Juguetes - Exhibition at Brooklyn Public Library

When visiting New York City in October, we saw a listing for an exhibition about toys and knew we had to go! The exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library included yo-yo's, kites, and other toys made from recycled materials by children in the Dominican Republic. Along side the toys were beautiful images taken by Jaime Jimenez capturing the curiosity, determination, and joy of children at play. This project Juguetes was inspired by the creativity of traditional toys and games made by children. In the book with the same title, Jimenez writes:

Over the past decade and a half, the lives of the people in the Dominican Republic have changed drastically. This has much to do with globalization. It has transformed and will continue to transform everyday life. The creativity in the children has changed due to the fact that now there are more mass produced toys available. This is why I find it necessary to document the children as much as possible while making their creations.

Visit the Juguetes website to see images and learn more about Jimenez's project.

We were excited to see that many of the toys were variations of the skill toys that we teach as part of our programs. Toys that we selected because they do engage kids for hours yet are so simple in design. They do not need electricity or internet access, they can be used inside or out, and most importantly there is no limit to what can be done with them!

Obama Kendama Goes to the White House

Dear Mr. President,

I'm sure you have received many gifts during your campaign and presidency, but I bet this personalized kendama is unique! This toy is popular in Japan and one of the many skill toys that I teach to children. During your presidential campaign, I realized that "Obama Kendama" had a nice ring to it. I sent it to artist Christopher Bordenca to paint your face on it and thus the Obama Kendama was born. To my knowledge it is the only one like it. During your campaign it traveled to Washington, D.C. and to one of your campaign rallies in North Carolina (there are videos of its travels on YouTube).

I have decided to send the Obama Kendama to you now because playing with the kendama exercises and develops the important 21st century skills that you outlined in your September 8th Back to School speech to students. At the same time, it draws attention to an important aspect of education that should not be overlooked - the critical hours between 3-6pm.

Flow Circus Entertains.....Even During a Fire Drill!

Shortly after arriving at a Connecticut library this summer, the fire alarm went off & everyone had to evacuate the building. Luckily there was no fire & the alarm went off before the show started.....although I'm sure Paul would have incorporated it into the performance if it had been during the show!! Needless to say, there were lots of people milling about outside the library as we waited for the fire department to arrive and confirm that it was safe to reenter the building. Paul decided that it was time to play & brought out jitter rings and Japanese kendama for the staff and families to play with while waiting. Hopefully we made the waiting a little more enjoyable for everyone!!

Memories of Play: An Oral History Project

Webkinz, Wii, and playdates...technology is forever altering the experience of play. Going, going, and gone are the days of neighborhood pick-up kickball games, imaginative adventures in the woods, and afternoons of mastering the yo-yo, hula hoop, tops, and other skill toys.

In an effort to preserve the spirit of unstructured childhood play, we are gathering stories about favorite toys and games prior to 1980.

Tell us your story or ask a parent or grandparent for a story about their favorite game or toy. Be sure to include the approximate year of your recollections and enjoy your memories of play!